An Open Letter Of Apology to Matt & Matt/Caroline Lovers

Things are turbulent at the moment when it comes to the Tyler/Caroline/Matt triangle and character debates.

Tyler and Caroline are fresh from testing out the theory of whether it is possible for vampirism and werewolfism to be sexually transmitted.

Shipper wars for Matt/Caroline versus Tyler/Caroline have long erupted across various battlefronts around the internet, but in the wake of this monumental moment in Vampire Diaries verse, Matt and Matt/Caroline love has shown itself in ways that I can no longer ignore.

When I first owned up to my Michael Trevino tendencies, Tyler biases and Tyler/Caroline inclinations, expressing my desire to see Vampire Barbie and Teen Wolf go to prom together, I knew that I was putting myself in the trenches of these battles. I knew that the potential casualties would be occasional lapses in maturity and common decency towards (human) man and mashed potatoes (TM Price).

But never did I think that I would fly the white flag when it comes to having a sense of perspective when it comes to Matt/Caroline or the basic human dignity of Matt, and his right as a fictional character to not be constantly on the receiving end of the blogging equivalent of a werewolf cocking its leg on a fire hydrant. Especially as by definition of being a fictional character he cannot defend himself.

Clearly, my judgment has been clouded by the sight of the bb vamp and bb were going at it like two horny Tasmanian Devils in a cyclone and my appreciation of the contours of Trevino’s ass, which among other things when it comes to this couple seem to make my mind work in ways it never has before, many of them inappropriate and possibly illegal in certain Australian states.

So here is my open letter of apology to Matt and Matt/Caroline lovers who may have been offended by my deep desire to see Vampire Barbie in a happy, fulfilling relationship with someone who would tell her “everything you need, I’m here” as opposed to “I told you I loved you, what more do you need”, plus my rampant belief that Trevino’s body is a temple that should be worshipped on a regular basis. Because obviously my enjoyment of Tyler must always mean I only ever see him through rose coloured glasses, and that my critique of Matt/Caroline must stem only from my shipper/Tyler-loving heart and not a clear-headed judgment of the way Matt comes across to me when he is with my favourite blonde vampire. It’s not like I have devoted thousands of words analyzing why the Tyler/Caroline relationship works for me in ways the Matt/Caroline one does not, or that I could dislike a character for embodying the traits of jerks I’ve seen in real life who get away with treating certain girls like Placeholders just because they are so-called Good Guys.

Consider this my Matty Blue Eyes mea culpa for all the ways in which I have inflicted libelous indictments on this character.

I can only shake my head at how I have reveled in the blatant mockery of this character or indeed even contributed to this harmful discourse, including in my darker moments saying that for me, Matt is the mule to Tyler’s unicorn. Take the Mystic Love Convention for instance, where both Ian Somerhalder and Michael Trevino made jabs about how it was unlikely Matt would be getting any sexytimes action because he would be too busy working in the Mystic Grill. Or Price Peterson likening Matt’s countenance to an integral part of one of the five food groups. Or the frequenters at the Captain Cardboard The Tool thread. Like a fangirl savage, I delighted in this public evisceration of a character whose relationship with Caroline has caused me to gleefully engage in fandom discussions that if Damon decided to randomly de-heart him, I would probably be ok with that.

I was initially derisive of commentators who claimed that the Tyler and Caroline sex went on for too long, because I couldn’t believe that with all that Trevino and Accola skin on screen they could have the presence of mind to clock them in that scene. I thought it was fair enough if people thought the pair lacked chemistry, because this is a very subjective quality – like beauty, chemistry is all in the eye of the beholder. But undercutting a highly anticipated sex scene with critique about its length reeked of award subtext for me, of disgruntled Matt lovers bashing Tyler and Caroline under a cloak of legitimacy that “I love Tyler and Caroline, REALLY, but that sex scene was too long”.

I wanted to lash out in childish ways, like getting these people to watch the scene in Gilmore Girls where Jess Mariano says: “wow, you seem very obsessed with length.” I just couldn’t fathom that Tyler and Caroline were too big for some, as Eric Northman apparently also is.

Upon further personal reflection and soul searching, I realized that I was far too harsh. After all, the athleticism on display in that sex scene could easily make you think they were at the Baby Supe Olympics. So getting out a stopwatch to see how long the scene took makes sense, really. I can only assume that points were also considered for upmount, dismount, and sex faces – the latter which would not be a high contributor to the overall sexiness score, what with so many people thinking Trevino was in pain in early promos of the sex. Here I thought sex scenes should be measured by chemistry and the beauty/appropriateness of the filming alone, but I have learned that their worth can also be quantified by factors like time (which I thought really only relevant if there if anything is premature or too short). I have never been the same since this revelation.

Other commentators were uncomfortable at the sight of two people in love/with strong feelings making love with obvious pleasure and rigor, with some saying that it made watching the episode with their kids uncomfortable, even though within these critiques abject violence like a woman plummeting to her death didn’t warrant a mention about inappropriateness of content. I shook my head in dismay at the prudish double standards of a violence and sex-drenched culture where seeing two people coming together in a loving way that was edited according to 8pm broadcast TV standards, warranted a talk to the kids, but poor Andie’s fate was something that was just a matter of course.

I realise now that I have my gutter mind to blame, and the only thing I can say in my defense is that I have obviously been influenced far too much by Vampire Diaries promotions that use sex as selling point, as seen in the Catch VD and Got Wood? campaigns, after which my Got Forwood recaps were named. Clearly I have been confused about the sexual content of this show being a given, with the marketing messages we’ve been receiving.

Most of all, I apologise sincerely that I don’t subscribe to conveniently revisionist history of canon. How dare I think that some things are objective fact, whereas others are open to interpretation? Like my colossal gall at having my mouth hang open when I see Tyler bashing that includes saying that he doesn’t deserve Caroline because he “handed her over to his werewolf pals” in Daddy Issues. Never mind the scenes where Brady and Jules kidnapped Caroline while Tyler was being held by Stefan, or Tyler being used as a hostage exchange by Stefan, or Tyler saying, “I had no idea they would come for you”. Shame on me for thinking the thing Tyler was at fault for doing was hesitating to help Caroline in his first life/death situation, just after her well-intentioned lies about her complicity in the cover-up of his uncle’s murder had come to light. Shame on me also for not willfully giving into a radical interpretation of the text that involves selective memory, apparently compelled away.

We all have our ghosts, as Matt so aptly explained to Legal to Lust Over (TM Amy) Jeremy Gilbert – or is that Illegal to Not Lust Over, now with his newly jacked body?

I guess my annoyance at Matt is my Vicki and Anna all rolled into one. Ironically, it may be his relatioship forged with Jeremy through facing these literal ghosts that my own spectre will stop haunting me. We shall see.

19 responses to “An Open Letter Of Apology to Matt & Matt/Caroline Lovers”

I myself love the oft mentioned (yet clearly deleted scene in the version of ‘Daddy Issues’ I saw) of Tyler “watching” as Caroline is tortured. Really? “Watching” the torture? Hmm. Werewolves must also have powers of invisibilty since I didn’t see Tyler in Brady’s trailer until much later when he, you know, HELPS CAROLINE OUT OF THE CAGE. Or maybe I always blink for a really, really, REALLY long time during that scene as Brady shoots wooden bullets, splinters, and sprays Caroline with vervain while Tyler looks on.

I rolled my eyes so hard just now I nearly fell out of my chair.

NIcely done, Cherie. Good balance of sarcasm and passive-aggressiveness. It needed to be said–especially by someone like you who has analysed and studied the show and characters above and beyond any shipping preferences and can back up her arguments 110%.

Thanks for indulging me this rant. I’ll be going back to regularly scheduled squeeing soon, but I just had to speak up after reading a few high profile critiques of the Tyler/Caroline sex that were clearly reaching for anything to bash the couple with (it is slightly hilarious that they can’t find anything specific to say about the lighting, actors etc because it was hot hot hot and their arguments would crumble if they tried to substantiate them), aside from having the guts to admit it comes from their own shipper biases or they didn’t like the chemistry (they wanted to be critical but weren’t brave enough to fully commit and potential enrage TC shippers, but hey, they clearly enraged me ;)).

At least ordinary Matt/Caroline and Matt lovers owned their biases and said they hate the Tyler/Caroline chemistry. Or, I respected the opinion of neutral viewers or even Tyler/Caroline lovers who thought the sex scene was awkward. My main beef with MC and Matt lovers is that because Matt is an unrepentant douche around Caroline, they often have to resort to revisionist history to make him look better than he is, or just focus on his manpain as a justification for everything he does – conveniently then not saying that Tyler’s own angst gives him a get out of jail free card with them too.

It is a precarious balance for me as a Tyler lover. On the one hand, I didn’t mind the “dead to me” comments after Daddy Issues, because here is a male character who is held accountable by fandon, and I hope this doesn’t change. It just stuns me how people can be disproportionately forgiving for far heinous crimes than his on the show, yet they won’t give him the same consideration. At least I try to understand the motivations for why a character does something and based my like/dislike on that. If I was going purely by heinous acts when it came to favour for characters, my list of favourite characters would be far different to those when I go by the quality of writing and character studies that explain motivations, and which motivations I support.

For me, this show is about how badly relationships can be screwed up and then repaired, and the key thing is the intentions behind atoning or redeeming actions. This is why Matt, who has done the least damage in terms of harming people’s lives in objective terms, is most disliked by me. He is one of few characters who hasn’t killed anyone, but the his emotionally abusive treatment of Caroline sits worse with me from the aforementioned ways in which I analyse this show.

It also just makes me plain angry when my analysis of Matt/Caroline versus Tyler/Caroline is written off by people as lacking value just because I have a clear preference. It is just a happy coincidence that my favourite pairing is in opposition to my most loathed one. But I’ve gone to pains to explain that my reasoning is not superficial, even if my appreciation of Trevino’s physical assets are.

I just needed to get these things off my chest before we continue down the path of season three, where I think Matt/Caroline will be irrelevant. Too bad Jeremy is being wasted on Matt when his connection with Tyler could be explored further. I hope this is what happens after the Vicki arc is resolved (I do see the point of Matt being involved with the Ghost Sister/Ex story, but a long term Jatt bromance? Ick!)

All of these comments aside, I think that Tyler and Caroline’s journey this year needs to address the lies and betrayal of Caroline being complicit in the Mason cover up, and the breach of trust committed by Tyler when he hesitated. I know that Caroline said “I could never hate you, Tyler”, but I just feel like there are loose ends from that storyline that really need to be tied up in order for the R&J storyline to feel fully satisfying to me. I know I sound like a broken record on this, but Tyler is my bb and I am still pissed at the way his POV was denied us in the fallout.

I try to stay away from those really disappointing forums, so I haven’t got a clue if those are very bad made-up arguments or people are actually using these. Whatever the case may be, you said all there is to say to anyone thinking it’s a valid argument.

Especially the one where they claim Tyler ‘gave Caroline over to his werewolfbuddies’ because girl, that ain’t okay. Are they watching the same show as us or the adapted Matt-loving version?

I couldn’t say it better than Paloma did, because I too almost fell out of my chair from rolling my eyes. Perfect blend of passive agressiveness and sarcasm, she said what I was thinking after reading this.

It’s a shame we can’t all get along. There are Matt/Caroline shippers who are mature enough to be around us Unicornlovers, but there are always those who can’t take the presure of the perfection of our ship and need to bash it without actual reason.

I do wish for the fallout to be discussed because I was disappointed that they skipped over that part when Tyler returned and I really hope they didn’t work it out over the summer because I need to see that.

Ohhh this post is filled with so much sarcasm that it’s intoxicating. I literally fell into a coma and I refuse to come out of it until Matt suffers a plain death (dude doesn’t even deserve an interesting death scene..yeah, I’m that evil). Only then I will turn to the Matt/Caroline shippers (who, let’s face it, are Matty Blue Eyes (this pet name feels so psychotic, I would run the other way if I were you, Matty!) shippers, cause no intelligent person with at least an ounce of self-respect and respect for other human/or not beings can enjoy Matt’s treatment of Caroline) and tell them “nananana”. It might not be mature, but it will feel so damn good!

Also, people think the sex scene wasn’t hot? No chemistry? Have they watched the MC scenes? To qoute Bonnie: “They are like wet paint that never dries”.

So I guess those 20 000 people that reblogged the sex scene on tumblr are blind? Half of them don’t even watch the goddamn show and still said it was fucking hot and thought about starting to watch it just for these 2. I heard some people say it wasn’t romantic like the SE scene and it was too animalistic (as if there’s something wrong with that), but not hot? Oh well..once sexually frustrated, always sexually frustrated.

And don’t even get me started on the whole 2×13 fiasco. At least we got to see how strong Caroline can be when she’s not around Squished Potatoes (if only!) and how powerful TC’s relationship is. You can only fight like that with the person you truly care about!

Thank you for making me laugh once again, Cherie! I knew I could count on you!

Glad you enjoyed my little rant. I am like Vampire Barbie in the way that I am generally happy and bubbly when it comes to fandom, but occasionally I have a bitchy side that comes out. Generally I don’t get too worked up about these things, but some of the double standards when it comes to Tyler and Caroline were too annoying for me to let them go without comment. I also just take issue with the fact that a shipper’s opinion is seen by some people as having less weight because we aren’t “objective”. No one is truly objective, as our arguments are coloured by our opinions. All I ask is that people argue with the facts. I don’t expect everyone to agree with my assessment of Tyler/Caroline, but at least I substantiate my reasons, and don’t rely on half-truths or outright lies to put across my case.

I love debating in real life, and tactics like strawmanning drive me insane.

It may seem silly, because it is just a TV show, but it is a replication of cultural values in many ways, including gender dynamics, and therefore I think deserves some thoughtful criticism. I am so sad about how I feel about Matt these days in relation to Caroline, because he started with so much promise. His maturity used to be his strongest selling point to me, but it was nowhere in sight in the latest episode. I mean, he was deliberately trying to make Caroline jealous by kissing Elena’s cheek and then off getting stoned. Contrast this to former hard partier Tyler who only went to the party with Urges Girl because he had given up hope on Caroline ever giving him a sign she wanted more, and avoided game-playing by just telling her straight out that if she wants him, he is there for the taking. It is uncanny to see the differences in these two men.

No need to pop those pharmaceuticals, it’s the same Mimi 🙂
I usually laugh when people bash TC cause they mostly use shallow reasons like “I don’t like them cause I don’t find Tyler attractive” or some other reasons like “Tyler has no development as a character, Matt is the most developed character on TVD”, “TC have no chemistry”, etc., but when they start saying that Matt is so perfect and Tyler is constantly abusing her, then I snap. Are these people deaf? Don’t they hear the way Matt talks to her, as if she were an old rug? What the fuckity fuck? I often tell myself “What is wrong with you? It’s just a TV show”, but then I realise how many women actually watch it and find it absolutely normal to be treated like that and I feel the sudden urge to slap them back to reality.

And even if Matt would have treated Caroline fine, I still wouldn’t like them. There’s no connection there. Even the way Matt looks at Caroline..I don’t know, he always looks smug and like he’s doing her a favour by looking at her or he just has this blank stare. I used to blame the writing, but the truth is Roerig is a really bad actor. I have nothing against the guy as a person (I don’t even know him, that would be ridiculous), but his acting skills are well, not there. Actually when I found out that he was supposed to play Tyler I wondered how the transformation scene would have looked. IMO he can’t handle these few normal lines he gets, imagine giving him a powerful scene like that!

On the other hand, every time Tyler looks at Caroline I feel like smiling, cause that’s what they’re doing when they see each other. Ok, I admit, I am biased, but I realised I was right when a Matt lover (not Carina Mackenzie) said in a review for
2×20 that the reason why she likes TC is because of the way he looks at her. He looks mesmerized every time he sees her.
In a Price Peterson review for 2×12 (God, I adore this guy!),
you can actually see 2 stills of Tyler and Matt when they look
at Caro and you can see the glaring difference.

What I also loved in the last episode is how Tyler responded to Caro’s jealousy. He didn’t tell her off, he didn’t make her apologize, no, he asked for an explanation and told her where he stands. He wants her and if she’ll have him, he’s more than ready.

Oh, and you should definitely let your bitchy side come out more often. It’s very entertaining and your posts are even more hilarious than usual.

12 is awesome in every way, so I’m glad you have already enjoyed the fabulousness that is her Vampire Diaries deconstruction.

Matt is your typical Good Boy Woobie, the character deemed the golden by the writers whose every bit of jerkiness is justified because he is a Good Guy, therefore any bad behaviour of his must be justified, right? It is a pet peeve of mine, and indeed my last big rant was about the Good Boy Woobie trope. It really does bug me because in real life I know quality women who doubt themselves because men who are ostensibly Good Guys treat the like dirt and they think the issue is with them. SMH.

Matt/Caroline are a shallow relationship IMO, so it is no surprise defenses of them usually go back to his manpain (and everyone has issues on this show so this is a moot point for me) and his hotness, because really, what when it comes to this specific relationship I just can’t see a leg you could have to stand on to argue they make a great couple. It seems like the writers are going out of their way to show how much crappier Matt is than Tyler. I mean, having the compulsion scene in this ep mirror the one with Matt in season two, but with Tyler being so mature and wonderful and amazing whereas Matt was a douchebag… do the writers not get how Matt comes across, or do they fully understand it and are writing a psychologically and complex tale of a girl discovering the difference between healthy and unhealthy love? It is hard to know sometimes.

My annoyance with Matt is not about wanting to win ship wars or for Tyler/Caroline to be together. It is purely about wanting Caroline to be with the person who will make her happiest. All signs point to Tyler, so I love this ship. If Tyler started treating Caroline like a Placeholder, I would be hard on him too.
Aww, the way Tyler looks at Caroline is golden. Michael Trevino is infinitely more charismatic and engaging than Zach Roerig, who has limited range IMO. I agree with you; it is laughable to think of Zach shouldering the acting burden of the transformation scene. Thank God ZACH turned down the Tyler role. Price Peterson is magic because he tells it like it is, and it is hilarious seeing him be all dreamy about Tyler and tongue-in-cheek about Matt!
LOL, I usually keep my bitchy side to myself because I figured no one wants their squee harshed. But I guess the angrier you are the snarkier you are, so hence the entertainment you got out of the post. You can be sure that the next time I build up a full head of steam I will let it out in a similar way!

I wish the writers would see Matt’s true colours, but I highly doubt that’s the case. “He hates that he can’t be with you”, remember? When I heard Elena say that I literally screamed at my computer screen. Well if he hates it that much, why the fuck did he dump her, then? And when he starts with his “My life is so hard, although some of the people that surround me have been abused, have to go through huge amount of pain every month or have literally DIED and still don’t act like fucking dickheads every single minute of every single day” speech I roll my eyes so hard that I get a 3-days headache. Cry me a fucking river, Matt!
Plus, apprently Roerig has been promoted cause he is credited before CA now. I get that they wanted to spread the female actresses names more in the credits (after all, there’s
only 3 of them – stop killing so many female characters, writers!), but why won’t you put Trevino before her then? The actors are credited based on their characters’ importance, so I guess the writers *coughPleccough* are trying to tell us that we’ll have to stand his bad acting even more now? Or is this just a favour, courtesy of #1 Roerig fangirl JP?

Oh and I recently saw a SPOILER that I think you might like. A reporter that was on set to interview Trevino, Accola, Wesley, Dobrev and Davis tweeted a picture of some football equipment which means Tyler might wear his football jersey in
3×06. How excited are you to see that? 😉

If they were credited actors according to actual ability, Trevino and Accola would be ahead, no doubt. Sometimes characters who are going to be written off get extra prominence right in the credits before they are killed off. *evil wishes*

I liked Matt so much in the early days, but Roerig’s acting and the characterisation have been leaving me cold. The thing is though, I’ll never give up hope that they can make him likeable again. It’s exhausting hating characters, I just want to have a love in with them all if possible.

I wish that the Sun and Moon curse had been developed properly and been real, and broken on the werewolves’ side, in retrospect. I would have loved to not only have a family R&J situation, but one where the creatures were on an even playing field in terms of strength. If the werewolves and vampires had a similar power dynamic, it would make the threats for Tyler/Caroline even more compelling than they already are. So my hope is that the hybrid storyline empowers a werewolf pack in some way Klaus does not anticipate, or the Lockwood werewolf line proves to be more powerful than your average werewolf line, so that we can see some power parity. Also, I really, really want Tyler Werewolf Obedience School flashbacks.

Hehe, I do believe this is the post where we are all airing our grievances.

“If they were credited actors according to actual ability, Trevino and Accola would be ahead, no doubt. Sometimes characters who are going to be written off get extra prominence right in the credits before they are killed off. *evil wishes*”

From your keyboard to God’s ears!!!

I agree with you, it is exausting to hate fictional characters, that’s why I want Matt dead, so I could drool over Jeremy’s new-found hotness (Hello, biceps!) without having to fast-forward through his scenes, just because he shares them with Squished Potatoes. *shallow thought is shallow*

I do find it sexy that the women is stronger than the man for once (and I don’t think Tyler’s complaining either ;)), but I agree, having Klaus in their storyline somehow (maybe his father was an Original Lockwood) it would add more “meat” to their scenes (although Trevino and Candice can read a
recipe and they would still make it entertaining).

Cherie you are a QUEEN. You know my love for Matt, but his douchery when it comes to Caroline makes me want to jab a pen in one or both of those big blue eyes.

I was reading a few recaps where the posters made the same, “I love Tyler and Caroline together, but the sex scene was kinda long,” or “Tyler and Caroline are great together, but I still have home for Matt and Carolien to make it back together.” Um…what?! Too long?! Get back together?! Someone’s been sneaking into Jeremy’s stash because these people were clearly high when saying these things.

I just don’t understand any of it. I was thinking the scene wasn’t long enough and after shipping TC since S1 I wanted it to last forever. I don’t know what was so long about it. For the life of me I can’t seem to figure it out. The clothes ripping took to long? Foreplay isn’t necessary? Seeing two people who have crazy chemistry and feel strongly for each finally loose themselves in each other isn’t awesome anymore? Pfft.

So I applaud this post. From someone who has come to love your recaps, has read all your metas and discussed every single detail of these characters I give the post all of the awards.

I know you don’t favor Matt at all and I think my love for Zach clouds some of my judgment. Plus, I do feel for the guy. He DOES have a hard life and some of his actions can be justified, but only some. Where he lied, he should have confronted, where he belittled, he should have comforted. The thing with Matt is that he’s selfish to his own problems, without realizing that his friends have it hard to. Where he’s hoping to pay bills, his friends are hoping to stay alive. So give me a storyline for Matt that will give him some legit sympathy and have him finally see the light. There’s more to life than bitching about it.

“Here I thought sex scenes should be measured by chemistry and the beauty/appropriateness of the filming alone, but I have learned that their worth can also be quantified by factors like time (which I thought really only relevant if there if anything is premature or too short). I have never been the same since this revelation.”

HA! LMFAO. How wrong are you, Cherie? You need to go flog yourself right now. I mean 30 seconds for a sex scene? WTF? That is too long. Death and compelling and rape are totes okay, but sex between two people who care about each other? You should be ashamed. Really.

“How dare I think that some things are objective fact, whereas others are open to interpretation? Like my colossal gall at having my mouth hang open when I see Tyler bashing that includes saying that he doesn’t deserve Caroline because he “handed her over to his werewolf pals” in Daddy Issues. Never mind the scenes where Brady and Jules kidnapped Caroline while Tyler was being held by Stefan, or Tyler being used as a hostage exchange by Stefan, or Tyler saying, “I had no idea they would come for you”. Shame on me for thinking the thing Tyler was at fault for doing was hesitating to help Caroline in his first life/death situation, just after her well-intentioned lies about her complicity in the cover-up of his uncle’s murder had come to light. Shame on me also for not willfully giving into a radical interpretation of the text that involves selective memory, apparently compelled away.”

You mean you didn’t hear that Tyler is responsible for the world’s economic crisis? He is the DEVIL. And wait, he totally lured Caroline back to his house with the promise of sex and knew his mom would creepily be waiting downstairs and shoot Caroline. Didn’t you know that? Tyler is EVIL.

This is fun.

Matt is also totes awesome. I wish my boyfriend would lie to me and constantly put me down. He is my dream dude.
“So here is my open letter of apology to Matt and Matt/Caroline lovers who may have been offended by my deep desire to see Vampire Barbie in a happy, fulfilling relationship with someone who would tell her “everything you need, I’m here” as opposed to “I told you I loved you, what more do you need”

Well, I mean, really Cherie. What else DO you need? That’s not clear enough for you? Don’t you love it when guys precede telling you they love you by saying they wanted to throttle you? And basket case is a total term of endearment. And I mean really, if you’re going to not answer the phone for three hours one day, then you should expect your boyfriend to flirt and not get angry. How dare you not call? I mean, it’s not like you had other issues going on, like learning how to survive.

LOL! I really do need to get one of those things with the teeth that Silas puts around his thigh *says in Blair Waldorf voice*

I don’t want to be a buzz crusher with this post. Normally I am all about the squee, but good God this fandom has been filled with so many perverse double standards that I could no longer stand back and let my bb Tyler and the Tyler/Caroline relationship get bashed without putting in my two cents worth.

My amazing blogger pal Amy loathes Tyler, but she bases her arguments on what he has done, plain and simple, she doesn’t fabricate canon to suit her purposes, so I totally respect that. I mean, in my Tyler = Jess post, I commented that I understand why so many people dislike Tyler.
He was designated as a straight bad boy at the start of the show to Matt’s good boy, and people are having a tough time letting go of these labels. It’s like, even though T and M have both evolved, one for the better, the other for the worse IMO, their early perception colours all of their movements. I don’t mind Tyler being held accountable, but if Matt’s manpain is going to be used as an excuse, conveniently forgetting the shittiness of Tyler’s life is totally hypocritical. If I had it my way, terrible lives wouldn’t be an argument for bad behaviour, but situational things like Tyler being fresh from the discovery of Caroline’s betrayal, well-intentioned as it may have been. Caroline doesn’t use the excuse of her lot in life to act like a prima donna, in fact the worse her life becomes the more optimistic she seems to start every day.

So you mean that Tyler tripped Caroline into falling on his lips, and through sheer force of sexiness (I will buy that), managed to lure her back to his house for hot sex? I mean, it has nothing to do with their romantic build up, their discussion of supernaturally heightened hormones, and Tyler putting his feelings on the line in a way that Caroline responds to. Seriously, if this was all part of Tyler’s plan, it would be the ultimate plot twist this show has ever had, because evil Tyler would be way out of left field. If the writers villainized him in that way, I think I would have a hyper conniption fit. This post would be nothing compared to the vitriol THAT would inspire 😉

Glad you had fun aboard the bitchiness train. Occasionally it is nice to let loose this side of ourselves so we can vent and get back to the happiness.

Can i just say that if i didn’t already love you, i would have in a heartbeat from this post alone! LOVE the sarcasm! I DESPISE it when people say that Tyler ”handed her over” to his werewolf friends or that he ”watched her” get tortured ’cause apparently TVD has another version in another alternative universe i didn’t know about. I personally really did mind the ”dead to me” comments because even though i’m a major feminist and i love Care with all my heart and totally agree that she SHOULD be enraged at him (no matter how painful that was to watch) but at the time it’s those exact same people who gave Damon a free pass after he KILLED Jeremy because ‘OMG, poor Damon! he just needs somebody to luuurve him’…ummm, NO! That is NOT OK! I don’t think i’ll ever forgive Damon for what he did and i certainly have no idea how Elena forgave him (i don’t really care about the D/E/S stuff because they only ever give me a headache and leave me with so much rage for all three of them). Also, those are also the same people who kept defending Matt after he CONSCIOUSLY sold Caroline out to her own mother! That is just disgusting. He never even apologized! UGH!
I seriously do NOT get the ‘no chemistry’ comments because they couldn’t find anything else to logically bash TC with so they went with no chemistry which is just pathetic IMO…especially since i personally think they have THE most chemistry on this show.
I read a review a few days ago which left me with so much rage because the reviewer kept going on about how much she loves TC and how they’re her favorite couple on TV but then during the sex scene she said it was too long RIGHT after ‘reminding us’ how much loves TC yet again while she’s obviously trying to hide her own bias towards mashed potatoes (yes, i am talking about Carina McKenzie).
I think a lot of my hatred towards Matt (other than he’s a totally aweful character who treats Care like dirt) comes from Zach Roerig himself. He’s just so COMPLETELY unaware of his own character that i just wonder how he ever passed middle school. This is a quote of him i found which just shows how much of an idiot he really is: ”I think that no matter how often we try to be selfless, we sometimes end up being a little selfish in the process, and Matt is never selfish. He is selfless all of the time, every decision he makes is selfless. I would say that’s been hard to adapt to.” WHAT.THE.HELL????!!!! SELFLESS???!!! MATT??!! Seriously, what show is he watching?! No matter that he’s a really horrible actor who can’t act to save his life. The only time i ever thought he was kind of good was when he was compelled in ‘Masquerade’.
Trevino on the other hand is just…i can’t even find words to describe the complete and utter awesomeness that is Michael Trevino. IMO, he’s the best actor on this show right ahead of CA.
You know, the sad thing is i actually used to like Matt at the very beginning of S01. Then the whole MC thing started and they were cute and i actually smiled in some of their scenes but no matter how much i tried to really like them (since Caroline was my favorite character from all the way back to her human-self and i just wanted her to be happy!) i just couldn’t! And that’s why i started crack!shipping TC (i totally called it! 😀 ) after i marathoned S01 so when it actually happened (which i totally predicted!) you can imagine how completely and utterly happy i was 😀

Spidey, I’ve been meaning to reply for a while now but have never had much of a chance. Well, today I went to a Forwood site recently and I couldn’t help but have my blood boil at something someone posted there. Here it is “Like many of you amazing fans for these clearly amazing characters, I support this (meaning Forwood). But chances are there will always be a light or shed of hope for the never ending bond of Matt and Care.” WTF! So, I retorted back that all Matt gave Caroline was emotional abuse. This person who claims they are Julie Plec wrote back saying “You are a guest. Show your true self, otherwise I will not care for the opinion of a fan that hides his/her identity in the shadows (because I didn’t have an icon).
Emotional abuse would be Stefan and Elena, and Tyler and Caroline, as opposed to the healthy chemistry that Matt and Damon give to Elena and Caroline. I believe perhaps you should determine the true meaning of emotional abuse. Do not get me wrong however, as a writer I admire all the potentional relationships of this show.”
So, you know what I did I gave examples from 12_12_12’s many metas about Matt’s total emotional abuse. I also told this person that this was a Forwood thread and if they wanted to comment on Matt that they should have done so on another forum thread. I’m sorry, but I was just so infuriated with this person’s idiocy.